Civic Education: Laying the Groundwork for Democracy

Civic Education: Laying the Groundwork for Democracy. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Daniel F. Runde and Erin Nealer. November 1, 2016

Civic education—through which citizens learn how their country’s government works and how they can participate—manifests itself in many ways around the world and plays a key role in emerging democracies. Programs that foster civic education include voter education, neighborhood conflict-solving initiatives, and participation in city hall or local government institutions. The relationship between an informed, active citizenry and an accountable, transparent government is clear; civic education in schools and beyond teaches citizens how to vote, what their community needs are and what values it holds, and what the social compact between elected officials and their constituents means in practical terms. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

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With 2017 Fishing Limits, It’s Time for EU Ministers to Stop Putting Stock Recovery at Risk

With 2017 Fishing Limits, It’s Time for EU Ministers to Stop Putting Stock Recovery at Risk. Pew Charitable Trusts. Andrew Clayton. November 11, 2016.

Fisheries ministers in the European Union are still too often taking risks when setting fishing limits—with stocks, with the science, and with the law—as demonstrated by the outcome of the October Council meeting. Two more critical Council decisions on annual limits will be made before the end of 2016, so what is at stake?

The benefits of ending overfishing are clear. A recent report by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd., a U.K.-based consultancy, highlights five case studies that show that when fishing in EU waters is brought within sustainable limits, the ecosystem, fishing businesses catching these stocks, and coastal communities all benefit. The prospect of such gains, along with the failure to fish sustainably in past decades, is what led EU decision-makers to commit in the reformed Common Fisheries Policy 2013 to ending overfishing within clear deadlines. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

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Economics Monthly November 2016

Global Economics Monthly November 2016. Council on Foreign Relations. Robert Kahn and Steven A. Tananbaum. November 2, 2016.

Last month’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings were sober affairs. The IMF repeated its call for all economic policy levers—monetary, fiscal, and structural—to boost growth. This move would reduce slack in the global economy and blunt rising discontent, primarily but not exclusively in the industrial world, where the slowdown in trade and changes in technology are having damaging effects on jobs and income. Addressing the root causes of inequality is at the core of the Fund’s call for “inclusive” growth. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

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Revisiting What Works: Women, Economic Empowerment and Smart Design

Revisiting What Works: Women, Economic Empowerment and Smart Design. Center for Global Development. Mayra Buvinic and Megan O’Donnell . November 2, 2016.

Expanding women’s economic opportunities benefits both women and society. While these benefits are increasingly well understood, much less is known regarding the most effective interventions to empower women economically. Updated evidence presented in the full Revisiting What Works: Women, Economic Empowerment and Smart Design report yields useful insights on the interventions that may contribute to women’s economic empowerment. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 68 pages, 1.29 MB].

Should Policymakers Make College Free or Better Support Institutions?

Should Policymakers Make College Free or Better Support Institutions? Brookings Institution. Matthew M. Chingos. November 3, 2016

Making public higher education tuition-free has gone from a fringe idea to the platform of the Democratic Party in a short period of time. President Obama proposed making community college free in early 2015. Hillary Clinton has augmented that proposal to include four-year colleges for families making up to $125,000. Many Democrats will push for federal action to make college free when the new Congress convenes in 2017. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

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The Real Challenges of Security Cooperation with Our Arab Partners for the Next Administration

The Real Challenges of Security Cooperation with Our Arab Partners for the Next Administration. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Anthony H. Cordesman. November 2, 2016

The next Administration faces serious problems and issues in its security cooperation with its Arab allies that cannot be papered over with reassuring rhetoric. Some problems are all too obvious results of the rise of ISIS; the legacy of the U.S. invasion of Iraq; and the problems in the fighting in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Other problems, however, are less obvious, but equally or more important. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 10 pages, 1.64 MB].

A Milestone Moment As the Paris Agreement On Climate Change Enters Into Force

A Milestone Moment As the Paris Agreement On Climate Change Enters Into Force. Brookings Institution. Nathan Hultman. November 4, 2016

On November 4, the Paris Agreement on climate change formally entered into force. That it has happened less than a year after the conclusion of the agreement, in December 2015, is itself remarkable. The agreement enters into force with 94 Parties having ratified and 192 Parties having signed, indicating their intention to ratify soon. The agreement’s provisions are now operational, including mechanisms designed to encourage countries to implement commitments and increase ambition over time.
Now is a good time to ask what the agreement means in the overall arc of global and national climate politics and what we might expect to emerge from it in coming years. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

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Federal Citations to the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases

Federal Citations to the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Jane A. Leggett. October 19, 2016

Executive Order 12866 requires that federal agencies assess the cost and the benefits of intended regulations as part of their regulatory impact analyses (RIAs). The 1993 executive order stated that “recognizing that some costs and benefits are difficult to quantify, [each agency shall] propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned determination that the benefits of the intended regulation justify its costs.”1 In 2008, a federal appeals court remanded a rule in part, despite acknowledging the uncertainty, because the agency did not monetize climate-related benefits of anticipated emission reductions in its RIA.2 In response, in 2008, federal agencies began using various values of the social cost of carbon (SCC or SC-CO2) as a means to estimate the climate-related benefits of abating emissions of carbon dioxide. Since then, they have begun using similar estimates for the benefits of reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHG), including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
This report compiles a table of Federal Register notices related to federal regulatory actions that specifically cite the SC-CO2, SC-CH4, SC-N2O, or SC-GHG.

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Moving Beyond Crisis: Germany’s New Approaches to Integrating Refugees into the Labor Market

Moving Beyond Crisis: Germany’s New Approaches to Integrating Refugees into the Labor Market. Migration Policy Institute. Victoria Rietig. October 2016.

A key question confronting German policymakers has been how to successfully integrate asylum seekers into the labor market after record numbers arrived in 2015. This report examines the challenges newcomers face in getting jobs at their skill level as well as accessing language and training courses. The report outlines the many integration initiatives created in Germany, and offers recommendations for greater effectiveness.[Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 43 pages, 2.05 MB].

Understanding the Current International Order

Understanding the Current International Order. RAND Corporation. Michael J. Mazarr at al. October 19, 2016.

Since 1945, the United States has pursued its global interests by building and maintaining various alliances, economic institutions, security organizations, political and liberal norms, and other tools — often collectively referred to as the international order. In this first report of a series on the emerging international order, RAND researchers offer several lenses to understand the character of the existing post–World War II liberal order. In addition to outlining the broad scope of the issue and the tools through which the order affects state behavior, the report categorizes and outlines the causal mechanisms that lead states to strengthen and work within the order. The report then reviews how U.S. policymakers have consistently viewed the international order as a key means of achieving U.S. interests in the world. Finally, the report concludes with potential questions for a research agenda that explores what type of international order — and, thus, what type of world — the United States should seek over the coming decade. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 81 pages, 0.7 MB].